Board 8 > Oh my God. I have to plan a lesson for tomorrow and I simply can't do it.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I just can't make myself focus on work.

We just finished testing today and now I need to introduce the unit on ionic and covalent bonds.

Every time I try to make a powerpoint for notes or even just search online for a worksheet, my brain simply shuts down.

In short, the best idea that gets posted in this topic is what I do for class tomorrow.

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Spend the day reading the new TMNT comic to your class.

All three of them, if you must.

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show a movie. that is what my teachers did all the time when they didn't feel like doing anything.

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read that as ironic and covalent bonds

teach that lesson instead.


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Just show them this: http://www.khanacademy.org/video/ionic--covalent--and-metallic-bonds?playlist=Chemistry

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From: LeonhartFour | #002
Spend the day reading the new TMNT comic to your class.

All three of them, if you must.

I hate my students so much that I don't want to treat them to such a wondrous thing.

From: SlymDayspring | #003
show a movie. that is what my teachers did all the time when they didn't feel like doing anything.

Is there a movie in particular that highlights...ionic/covalent bonding?

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SlymDayspring posted...
show a movie. that is what my teachers did all the time when they didn't feel like doing anything.

I saw Evolution like 5 times during middle and high school

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From: Princess Anri | #007
Is there a movie in particular that highlights...ionic/covalent bonding?

i'm going to go out on a limb and say 'bill nye'


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From: Tom Waits | #009
i'm going to go out on a limb and say 'bill nye'

We've already watched like 4 Bill Nye videos.

They only take up one third of the class period.

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Magic School Bus episode 40 "Meets Molly Cule"

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Magic School bus time

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have them take notes while watching the video, then test them.


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Go over all of the answers to the test. That'll take like half of the class

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what grade are you teaching

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From: skull_bonek23 | #015
Go over all of the answers to the test. That'll take like half of the class

Hmm...this will be my back up.

From: Justin_Crossing | #016
what grade are you teaching

10th grade chemistry.

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Show GATACA

This was my schools goto movie when teachers didn't feel like doing anything.

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This is your first year, right Anri? Theoretically, once you get one year of a class planned out, you'll only need to make minor changes to the plan from then on. You just got to tough it out.

And if you just can't stand planning tonight,

Of course, that's only fourteen minutes of class time. If your chemistry departments has those ball-and-stick molecule sets you could just write up a list of simple molecules and have your students build them for the remainder of the class.

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From: CalvinbalI | #019

Post #6!!!

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show them this



25 times.

and you'll never see them again.

Oh and yeah you should totally go over the answers to the test. Requires zero planning and I always find it incredibly helpful as a student to understand why I got something wrong.

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From: Princess Anri | #017
[quoted text]

Hmm...this will be my back up.

[quoted text]

10th grade chemistry.

sounds about right.

honestly if you know what you're talking about, teaching ionic and covalent bonds is totally improv-able

i can't imagine why you would need a powerpoint for them

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Walk into class and just stand there without saying anything and see how long it takes one of them to freak out.

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tyder21 posted...
From: CalvinbalI | #019

Post #6!!!

aw nuts. the non-youtube link threw me off.

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Real solution:

Ask them what they think it is and hope they struggle for the entire class period.

From: CalvinbalI | #025
aw nuts. the non-youtube link threw me off.

Khan Academy is the best.

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show a lifetime movie on family bonding, then say 'yeah, its kinda like that'

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From: Justin_Crossing | #023
honestly if you know what you're talking about, teaching ionic and covalent bonds is totally improv-able

Yeah, I have a degree in biology with a minor in chemistry.

I could easily teach the entire curriculum without a second thought.

i can't imagine why you would need a powerpoint for them

This part though...this is the funniest thing I have ever heard.

My kids are so stupid that if I just tried to "lecture" about ionic and covalent bonds, the ones that didn't fall asleep would literally die.

What you are suggesting is simply not possible.

Example: they can't do simple math.

Not algebra (which they can't even almost do), but SIMPLE MATH.

Like putting a fraction into a calculator. That is a task they screw up 40-50% of the time and I SWEAR I am not exaggerating.

They often put the bottom number in first.

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When my Chemistry teacher taught this subject, he came up with the idea of "Sex on the Periodic Table" and how some elements are more "desirable" than others.

Francium, what a stud.

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Teach them about s p and d orbitals

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From: meisnewbie | #031
Teach them about s p and d orbitals

We just tested over this.

Blew most of their minds.

I kind of want to give them a break for a day but still have it be chemistry-ish.

Haven't thought of anything good yet though.

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no I mean

how to solve the differential equations

that define what the s p and d orbitals look like

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Eh? You Serious? Easy Mode? How Disgusting!
Only Elementary School Kids should play on Easy Mode.

I'm a math tutor and former teacher. Sometimes I get called in to help with chemistry, but usually I don't have to deal with the theory stuff, only the numbers-oriented topics like stoichiometry. (Just WAIT til you get to moles. OMG, it blows them away for some reason.)

Did you really already do S, P, and D layers in October? Your book must be laid out differently than that of the students I've worked with. That topic seems to come later normally for some reason. Usually September is for units, significant digits, and other boring math-related stuff, and then October is for learning elements -- name, symbol, atomic number, mass number, etc. (Not all of that by heart, obviously.) And at that point, then you start talking about basic properties of substances, like homogoneous vs heterogenous mixtures, density, that fun stuff. Have you looked ahead to see how quickly you need to be pushing these kids?

In any event, have you dealt with electron diagrams, and charges of particular ions? Do they have a list with stuff like Fluorine -1, Potassium +1, Phosphate -3, etc? If not the complex ions, at least an understanding of how to get the charges of single atoms off the periodic table? If so, I'd suggest something simple related to making some basic salts and salt-like compounds. Sodium Bromide. Calcium Sulfide. Copper (II) Oxide if you're feeling bold. From there, get them to pick stuff that doesn't match, and determine how much of each they need to balance charge. So, H2O, CaCl2, Fe2O3...but do something to put it in their hands.

Or, how about Lewis diagrams? Again, I'd normally consider that like a January topic, but I have no idea what you have or haven't done.


I'll be honest, I don't understand the theory behind the bond types. Never have, and probably never will. But I know what I need to to do chemistry problems. So I can't say I'm much good in thinking through a complete lesson unit, but for an individual period, depending on what you have or haven't done, I might be able to help. For future reference. I know entirely too painfully what it's like to be a first-year teacher.

Go over the answers to the test

Have them do a bonus project related to what you just covered that counts for extra credit. Say it is due monday and they have friday to work on it. Monday you start the new stuff with them fresh.

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From: ScareChan | #035
Go over the answers to the test

Have them do a bonus project related to what you just covered that counts for extra credit. .

Pretty much did this because I went to sleep and decided not to get up early.

We have block scheduling (90 minute classes) so we used 45 minutes to go over the test answers and then 30-45 minutes of doing review problems on the ones they missed.

But mostly that last 45 minutes was just relaxation time for me.

From: azuarc | #034
Did you really already do S, P, and D layers in October?

Yeah we opened with scientific method, scientific notation type stuff.

Then we did atomic structure.

Then electron diagrams/electron configuration.

Next unit is ions and bonding.

I hate them all and want to die.

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Teach them to recite that.

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From: Princess Anri | #036
I hate them all and want to die.

The students or what you're teaching? Or both?

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Princess Anri posted...
I hate them all and want to die.

Once again, I just want to ask you, do you have your entire year blocked out on where you intend to be each month? It seems to me like, unless you're covering far more ground than most teachers would think about, you're pressing way too quickly.

I mean no disrespect. You're the science teacher, not me. I'd be able to evaluate what you were doing on a geometry of calc I class more readily. But unless your goal is to prepare them for some really advanced stuff (by high school standards,) you might consider letting off the throttle a little bit.

Believe me, I know what it feels like to not move as quickly and get the impression you aren't pushing hard enough. The first time I taught Algebra I, I thought we could breeze through the first two chapters in a couple weeks, and I moved on to the distributive property and balancing basic equations before they were ready. It ended up actually slowing us down when I had to take far longer to discuss topics that used those ideas since I basically had to reteach old material that wasn't mastered for half of each period.

So you are a chemistry teacher? Show them Breaking Bad imo. Though that would probably require a permission slip.

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Do you at least have learning objectives, even if not an entire scheme of work? Even if not an entire scheme of work? Should be easy enough to make up some s***ty activities, even for 90 minutes.

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You can do that.

I didn't actually learn about orbitals until my second time taking chemistry in college.

I think its more of everyone else being really slow than anri being fast.

I was further than him at this point of the year

From: azuarc | #039
Princess Anri posted...
I hate them all and want to die.

Once again, I just want to ask you, do you have your entire year blocked out on where you intend to be each month?

Yes and we are exactly on schedule (which doesn't mean it isn't too fast, just saying). This is my first year so it is a learning process for me.

And I know a lot of teachers just blame their students but last semester I did my STUDENT TEACHING at this school and I literally walked in on day one and started teaching the gas laws from memory with great success.

The difference is that those were Pre AP classes and these are "regular" classes.

I have kids reading at 3rd-5th grade levels who can't even use a calculator.

The difference between my experience with Pre AP and regular is incredible. These kids don't deserve to exist.

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The funny thing is the difference from track to track varies greatly depending on the school. Some schools in affluent areas (or are prep schools) don't have many truly brain-dead students. Others you have trouble finding anyone with any scholarly aptitude at all. My high school went from 99th percental to 1st, and I suspect the school I taught at wasn't much better in that regard.

Still, tracking differences can be pretty remarkable in terms of pacing. You either have to dumb things down in terms of what you expect the lower tracks should know, or accept that you won't get as far in the book. Most likely, a combination of both. The key difference between top track and non-top track is that the top track students will figure out what you mean if you explain something awkwardly and/or don't hammer it into their brains. Lower tracks require their material with clarity and repetition. My first year was Geometry; I had tracks 1, 2, and 3, plus the high achievement class. The T3's were hard simply to manage, let alone instruct. But what the HA class got from me basically just writing on the board and saying once, the T1 class needed to see several examples, and the T2 needed me to revisit the next day to reinforce. Philosophies on tracking aside, it's simply a matter of not rushing the slower tracks. DO, however, find ways to keep them involved as you're prolonging a topic, or you'll start to have management issues. Your first year will, of course, be an adventure, but experiment with different strategies to see what you like because you'll want to use a couple different ones for each topic.

The only real advice that matters to a first year teacher, however, is this: Listen to the advice of others. They've done it, you haven't. I willfully ignored this bit of wisdom for the mostpart, and it made for some very difficult periods at times, so I hope you have a support network you can reach out to (besides asking B8, although I'm always willing to give bad advice) and that you're making good use of it.